WSJ investigated by justice department

The Justice Department last year opened an investigation into allegations that employees at The Wall Street Journal‘s China news bureau bribed Chinese officials for information for news articles.

Devlin Barrett and Evan Perez of The Journal write, “A search by the Journal’s parent company found no evidence to support the claim, according to government and corporate officials familiar with the case.

“The U.S. government, meanwhile, is nearing the end of a broader investigation of the Journal’s owner News Corp. stemming from allegations of phone hacking and bribery at U.K. tabloids, among other issues, according to people familiar with the case.

“During the course of that broader probe, the Justice Department approached News Corp.’s outside counsel in early 2012 and said it had received information from a person it described as a whistleblower who claimed one or more Journal employees had provided gifts to Chinese government officials in exchange for information, according to people familiar with the case.

“News Corp. and the Journal don’t know the identity of the informant, company officials say, and government officials wouldn’t discuss such details. It isn’t clear whether the person worked inside the Journal and whether the informant provided names of alleged bribers.”

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